The Youth Sailing World Championship has not been held in the U.S. for 22 years. The Rhode Island city of Newport hosted the last American-based event in 1996. Since then, the regatta has toured six continents before returning to North America.

About 470 male and female sailors ages 12-19 have convened on Corpus Christi Bay for this eight-day competition. Some 400 mostly local volunteers have signed up to help.

“Expect to have an economic impact of more than $1 million to the city for this event,” Corpus Christi Yacht Club member Mark Foster told the Corpus Christi City Council when outlining the event at a meeting in February.

US Sailing’s 14 team members include three defending champions. Charlotte Rose of Houston won in the Laser Radial, and sisters Carmen and Emma Cowles of Larchmont, New York, won in the I420 in Sanya, China, in 2017.

“Racing for the highest prize in international youth sailing on home waters will be a great honor and an experience that our sailors will carry with them for the rest of their sailing careers,” said Malcolm Page, two-time Olympic champion and chief of U.S. Olympic Sailing. “US Sailing will do everything we can to help our team to compete in Texas against the world’s best.”

The Corpus Christi event is the 48th edition of the Youth Worlds, which began in Angelholm, Sweden, in 1971. Only 16 nations competed in two events that first year. The regatta has turned into a prestigious and esteemed event 66 nations competing in 10 events.

Hundreds of contestants from 60 nations will compete in the Youth Sailing World Championship in Corpus Christi Bay, July 14-21. Courtesy photo

Each U.S. athlete earned a berth on the team in accordance with U.S. Sailing’s athlete selection procedures.

The United States Sailing Association, known as U.S. Sailing, is the national governing body for sailing. It was founded in 1897 and headquarters in Bristol, Rhode Island. The nonprofit offers training and education programs for instructors and race officials, supports a wide range of sailing organizations and communities, issues offshore rating certificates, and provides administration and oversight of competitive sailing across the country, including the National Championships and the U.S. Sailing Team Sperry. For more information, visit www.ussailing.org.